November  30,  1899. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
481 
for  all  the  gardens — Baroness  Rothschild,  La  France,  Boule  de  Neige, 
John  Hopper,  and  if  you  are  lucky,  a  Charles  Lefebvre,  a  scraggy 
Gloire,  or  possibly  that  other  monstrosity,  Reine  Marie  Henriette,  is 
put  into  a  corner.  There  is  many  a  sheltered  nook  where  a  bed  of 
Teas  would  simply  revel.  When  we  add  that  these  Roses  are  mostly 
unpruned,  with  all  the  thin,  knitting  “  needly  ”  wood  left  in  and 
covered  with  green  fly,  we  leave  our  readers  to  judge  of  the  effect. 
They  are  parodies  on  Roses,  and  fairly  break  one’s  heart.  When  will 
some  prophet  arise  and  exterminate  the  small  yellow  Calceolaria,  that 
horror  of  the  suburban  garden  ?  If  yellow  is  wanted,  why  not  have  a 
few  Iceland  Poppies,  or  beautiful  and  free-flowering  Corydalis,  with  its 
Fern-like  foliage  ? 
For  effect  and  colour  what  will  beat  some  good  Carnation  Poppies  ? 
They  do  not  mind  so  much  about  poor  land,  and  like  sunshine.  It  is 
wondeiful  how  Syringa  will  thrive  even  among  dirt  and  smoke.  There 
is  an  open  dyke  close  to  the  city  on  whose  bank  there  is  a  mass 
of  the  large  flowered  variety  that  filled  the  air  with  sweetness 
and  the  eye  with  pleasure.  Just  behind  a  police  station  was  a  grand 
old  Pear  tree  early  this  spring  like  a  snow  mountain.  What  the 
Pear  may  be  we  do  not  know,  but  that  tree  should  never  be  cut  down 
as  long  as  each  returning  spring  finds  it  with  an  atom  of  bloom. 
This  is  the  first  year  we  have  seen  Sweet  Pea  infested  with  green  fly. 
Alas !  what  with  slug,  snail,  and  green  fly,  these  town  gardens  are 
sadly  spoiled.  No  harbourage  for  snails,  plenty  of  tillage  to  force 
vegetation  quickly  beyond  the  reach  of  enemies,  a  little  protection 
irom  draught,  a  little  sense  of  proportion,  an  eye  for  colour,  a  taste 
for  the  watering  can,  a  sharp  pruning  knife,  a  deviation  from  the  beaten 
track,  and  these  poor,  sad,  forlorn  gardens  might  blossom  and  rejoice 
with  and  as  the  Rose  — The  Missus. 
I  have  seen  some  beautiful  Convolvulus  major  climbing  up  a  Poplar 
not  many  yards  from  the  main  street,  lightness,  whiteness,  and  grace 
combined. 
APPLE  PAROQUET. 
It  is  only  a  few  weeks  since  Mr.  Ross  sent  from  Welford  Park 
the  splendid  Apple  that  now  bears  his  name.  That  variety  doubtless 
created  infinitely  more  interest  than  any  Apple  that  ha3  been  raised  of 
late  years.  On  October  24th  Mr.  Ross  came  forward  with  a  particularly 
handsome  variety,  which  received  from  the  Fruit  Committee  an  award  of 
merit.  It  was  named  Paroquet,  and  is  represented  in  the  illustration 
(fig.  85).  It  is  a  symmetrical,  almost  quite  smooth  fruit,  with  scarcely 
perceptible  angles  on  the  sides.  It  is  broadest  at  the  middle,  tapering 
both  to  the  crown  and  the  base.  The  large,  wide-open  eye  has  broad 
reflexed  segments,  and  is  set  in  a  perfectly  smooth  and  moderately  deep 
basin.  The  stalk  is  scarcely  more  than  a  knot,  and  is  buried  in  the  very 
small  green-lined  cavity.  The  colour  on  the  sun  side  is  brilliant  crimson 
scarlet  with  numerous  light  specks  ;  on  the  shaded  side  the  colour  is 
yellow  tinged  with  green.  The  tube  is  funnel-shaped  and  the  stamens 
median  ;  the  flesh  white,  slightly  suffused  with  cream  ;  it  is  firm,  and 
has  a  sweet  agreeable  flavour. 
THE  LARUE  VINE  IN  KINNELL  GARDENS, 
PERTHSHIRE. 
I  send  a  few  particulars  of  this  famous  Black  Hamburgh  Vine,  the 
property  of  the  Marquis  of  Breadalbane,  thinking  that  such  may  interest 
some  of  your  readers.  The  Vine  was  planted  in  1832,  and  has  now 
attained  to  the  following  dimensions  : — Girth  of  stem  1  foot  from  the 
ground  28  inches,  and  the  arms  that  branch  away  from  the  stem  at 
6  feet  from  the  ground  are  16  inches  in  girth  at  18  inches  from  the 
main  stem.  It  completely  fills  the  vinery,  which  is  171  feet  long  and 
25  feet  wide,  covering  a  roof  area  of  475  superficial  square  yards  of 
glazed  surface. 
Mr.  Cant,  an  old  assistant  of  mine,  took  charge  of  Kinnell  Gardens 
in  1875,  and  the  Vine  still  continues  under  his  care.  At  the  date 
named  it  was  in  very  poor  condition,  and  Mr.  Cant  found  that  a  border 
had  never  been  made  for  it  to  any  extent,  the  natural  soil  into  which 
the  roots  had  extended  being  of  a  poor  gravelly  nature,  the  subsoil  pure 
gravel  and  sand.  Mr.  Cant  removed  all  the  soil  down  to  the  roots, 
substituting  turfy  and  better  soil,  with  a  free  admixture  of  half-inch 
bones  and  other  manures.  Ever  since  he  has  watered-in  liberal 
dressings  of  Thomson’s  Vine  manure,  and  mulched  heavily  with 
farmyard  manure.  The  result  is  seen  in  the  fine  bearing  condition  of 
the  Vine  at  this  date. 
The  end  in  view  is  not  so  much  any  very  large  number  of  bunches, 
as  good  substantial  Grapes  of  fine  quality.  Mr.  Cant  informs  me  that 
this  year  one  bunch  weighed  4 lbs.  11  ozs.,  and  many  were  over  4  lbs., 
with  next  to  no  shanking  in  any  of  the  bunches.  This  is  quite  proof 
enough  that  the  Vine  is  in  good  order,  bearing  well-coloured  bunches 
<>f  fleshy  high-flavoured  Grapes,  the  average  weight  of  the  bunches 
being  1£  to  2  lbs. — David  Thomson, 
THE  “CANKER”  FUNGUS. 
It  is  customary  with  fruit  growers  to^style  the  various  disorders 
which  affect  and  kill  branches  and  boughs  of  Apple  trees  “  canker.” 
Injuries  from  frost,  hail,  improper  and  excessive  pruning,  and  from 
insects,  such  as  the  woolly  aphis  and  species  of  Lachnus,  all  come 
under  this  common  appellation.  It  is  the  same  in  Germany,  where 
these  diseases  are  termed  krebs,  and  in  France,  where  the  name  is 
chancre,  and  much  confusion  exists  generally  as  to  the  realfnature  of 
the  maladies. 
There  is  no  doubt  that  frost,  hail,  wrong  and  untimely  pruning, 
and  insects  have  injurious  effects  upon  Apple  trees,  but  they  are  quite 
distinct  from  those  caused  by  the  canker  fungus.  Injuries  of  this 
nature  are  also  frequently  described  somewhat  vaguely  as  being  due 
to  hypertrophy,  or  excessive  sap  formation,  whereas  hypertrophy  may  be 
said  to  be  the  effect  rather  than  the  active  cause  of  these  troubles.  A  not 
infrequent  notion  regarding  canker  is  that  it  is'due  to  unsuitable  soil, 
to  want  of  drainage,  or  to  excess,  orMack,  of  manure,  or  of  certain 
Fig.  85.— Apple  Paroquet. 
manurial  constituents.  But  cankered  trees  are  found  on  all  soils, 
drained  as  well  as  undia'ned,  and  where  manure  has  been' freely*  or 
sparingly  applied. 
And  it  is  natural  to  find  this,  seeing  that  the  cause  of  the  true 
canker  is  the  very  dangerous  fungus  known  as  Nectria  ditissima, 
which  is  far  more  destructive  than  frost,  hail,  bad  pruning,  unsuitable 
soil,  too  much  or  too  little  manure.  Like  most  other  injurious  fungi 
it  is  difficult  of  detection,  except  by  trained  or  careful  observers. 
LTpon  examination  of  a  bough  or  branch  infected  by  Nectria  ditissima 
it  will  be  seen  that  some  of  the  twigs  or  shoots  formed  are  dead  or 
dying,  and  that  there  are  series  of  wide  cracks  or  fissures  in  the  bark 
for  some  distance  round  them,  and  sometimes  also  running  upwards 
and  downwards  on  the  boughs,  which  are  abnormally  swollen  near 
the  twigs. 
Places  will  be  noticed  in  some  cases  upon  infected  trees  where  the 
bark  is  rolled  back  in  raised  and  distorted  forms  round  the  affected 
branches,  leaving  the  black  and  decaying  wood  exposed  in  the  middle 
of  the  circular  or  oval  spaces  denuded  of  bark.  Above  these  the 
branches  are  dead,  or  partly  dead,  or  dying;  further  investigation  will 
demonstrate  that  there  is  little  living  wood,  and  that  the  formation  of 
wood  has  been  for  some  long  period  disorganised,  as  shown  by  the 
irregularity  of  the  “  annual  rings.”  The  fungus  on  one  stem,  or 
bough,  may  be  still  living  and  destroying;  on  another  stem  or  bough 
it  may  have  died,  but  the  bough  or  stem  has  been  rendered  practically 
useless  for  fruit  bearing.  Very  large  boughs  are  often  found  ruined  in 
this  way,  and  occasionally  young  trees  have  large  canker  centres  in 
their  main  stems  which  must  materially  affect  their  powers  of  fruit 
production  and  their  lull  development. 
Young  boughs  of  Apple  trees  often  have  the  whole  of  their  bark 
ringed  by  the  fungus,  especially  near  the  tips,  so  that  they  die,  and  in 
this  case  it  is  generally  held  that  frost  has  caused  their  death.  It  will 
be  found  that  the  fungus,  as  a  rule,  is  located  near  and  round  the 
shoots  or  twigs,  because  the  cuticle  there  is  tender  and  to  some  degree 
extravasated  and  liable  to  receive  injuries  from  the  frost  or  hail, 
making  it  a  convenient  nidus  for  the  spores  of  the  fungus,  which  com¬ 
mences  life  as  a  saprophyte — i.e.,  a  feeder  on  decayed  substances. 
